MISCHIEVOUS IMAGINATIONS 77 



make a display of it. You see, very few rats know 

 as much about traps as I do. In our country 

 the fruit of the tree of knowledge is generally death, 

 even as it was to have been in the Garden of Eden, 

 and very few rats get the chance of more than one 

 bite at that attractive apple. Of course, I have 

 had a lot of luck, I cannot deny that for a moment, 

 but I have also had a very tough constitution ; and 

 I must say, though it may seem to savour of boast- 

 fulness, that I have not only exercised great wisdom 

 and self-restraint, which some people call cowardice, 

 but also, when circumstances over which I have had 

 no control have brought me into trouble, I have 

 secured my ultimate escape by means of a happy 

 combination of audacity, sangfroid, and contempt 

 of pain, which you would do well to imitate. The 

 charge of cowardice I reject with contempt ; all 

 that can be urged against me is that, when fools 

 wanted to press in where I feared to tread, I gene- 

 rally allowed them to do so. When another fool 

 has sprung the trap, you can get the bait. If it is 

 a question of making a bolt into cover, I am always 

 anxious to show off my speed of foot and be the 

 first to arrive ; but whenever there has been any 

 dispute as to who should take the lead in going 

 out of cover, or in approaching a dainty piece of 



